Merritt gally



MERRITT G ALLY, OF

QRGAN PATENT OFFICE.

rnw YORK, N. .v.

-REED.

GEZ iCIEICAIION forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,234, dated March 24, 1885. Application filed l ebruary 18,1834. (No model.) lalenled in England May 1-], I991, No. 7,708.

To aZZ whom. it Hwy concern.-

Be it known that I, MERRITT Ginny, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Organ-Reeds, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention is patented in l lngland, May 14, 1884., No. 7,708, and in no other country foreign to the United States with the consent or knowledge of this inventor.

Figure l is a plan of areed which illustrates the principle of my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modification. Fig. 3 is a plan of the reed-block, Fig. 2,with tongue removed. Fig. 4isaview of the tongue of same. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of reed, and Fig. 6 a section of Fig. 3 on the line a: Figs. 7 and 8 are plan views of modified forms of reed.

A indicates the reed-bloclgwhich is of usual material and thickness. A slot, B, is cut through this block, and at the end away from the tongue-anchorage this slot is divided and prolonged, forming extensions 0 C, which extensions are divided by the projections D D from the front end of the reed-block.

The reed-tongue is composed of a thin plateof metal, as usual, and is secured to the reedbloek in usual way. Theshank or body portion (I and the projecting prongs a b c are in one piece, and the prongs a b or a b 0 lie side by side. The reed tongue and block are made to conform to each other, as usual in musical reeds.

The power and volume of tone of an orgair reed depends upon the quantity of air set in vibration by the action of the tongue, and this is determined by the extent of the boundaryedge of the tongue, which corresponds with the boundary-line of the opening in the reedblock in which the tongue vibrates. To produce a tone of any given pitch, the tongue of an ordinary organ-reed is to a great extent limited as to its length, breadth, and thickness, and in the ordinary construction is limited to the extent of its boundary-edge. To increase the volume and power of the tone of any given pitch, when it is not desirable to employ the octaves of the tone, a number of unison-reeds are commonly employed; but it is difficult to cause these unison-reeds to vibrate exactly on the same beat. Instead of increasing the volume and power of the tone as a single sound, the tone of each reed remains distinct in itself without increase in power or volume. Unison-sets are therefore seldom used in organs, except for variety stops. Different means have been employed, with some degree of success,in endeavoring to cause a number of unison-reeds to vibrate in perfect unison; but the difficulties in the way have been great, and good results have only followed very careful and expensive inanipulation. For example, we take a number of reeds, all nicely tuned to unison. Each one of these reeds has requiredacertain amount of labor to tune it, this labor being multiplied by the number of reeds. The tongues of these reeds, each having its own attachment as a base from which to vibrate, may then be tied together by means of metal yokes or staples; but when this is done the tuning is destroyed, and each must be again tuned, the faulty tone of one hindering the tuning of the others, and so on, making it a difficult matter. Besides these difficulties, too much space is occupied by the number of tied reeds, their speaking .capaeity is comparatively slow, and unless exact uniformity is preserved in shaping the tongues during the tuning process an impurity of tone is produced.

The object of my invention is to increase the capacity of an ordinary organ-reed for setting air in vibration, and thus increase the power and volume of its tone. The greatest vibration of a reed-tongue is at the point most distant from the place of its attachmentto the recdblocl:. The vibrations of the shank (l of the reed-tongue are slight, but nevertheless determine the character of the vibrations of the entire tongue. In order to increase the extent of the boundary-line of that portion of the tongue which has the greatest amount of movement, I terminate the tongue in a number of prongs, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thus the boundary-line is greatly increased, and as the prongs a, I), and c depend upon the single body d for their vibration, the tuning is al most as. easily done as in an ordinary reed. The reed costs only a trifle more than an ordinary reed to manufacture, and is multiplied a number of times in volume and power.

The form which the branches of the slot and the prongs of the reed take, determine, in great measure, the character of the tone. I have devised several modifications which I do not herein describe, as I am not permitted under the rules of the Patent Office to claim them herein; but such modifications I do not abandon to the public. One such modification is described in an application filed by me, June 28, 1884, to which application the Office has given the serial number 136,228, and another filed August 9, 1884, has been numbered 140,074.

I claim herein, broadly, as follows:

1. A musical reed-block having aslotin its body portion,which slot is extended and forms a plurality of slots at one end, as described.

2. A musical reed-block having aslot in its body portion, which slot is extended into a series of separated branches, the united width of the branches being greater than that of the main slot.

8. A musical reed-tongue having a single Vibrating shank or body portion, and aseries of prongs integral therewith lying side by side.

4. A musical reed-tongue having a single shank or body and a plurality of prongs integral therewith and lying side by side, the combined width of the prongs being greater than that of the shank, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a reed-block having a branching slot, of a reed-tongue having prongs corresponding with the branches in the slot, as described.

6. The c01nbination,with a reed-tongue having a single body portion, of a series of prongs integral therewith and. extending in the same direction as the body, and a reed-block havingaslot corresponding to the shape of tongue, as set forth.

illEltltl'llT GAlJlIY lVitnesses:

D. B. GALLY, War. A. GALLY. 

